President Chamberlin1 entered upon the duties of his office at the beginning of the
academic year 1887-88. There were then in the
University 637 students,2 25 professors,
11 instructors and assistants, and a law faculty of
seven.3 In the first twenty years of
its existence, the University had
been sadly hampered by lack of means; for, as we have seen, popular
indifference and even distrust had generated and excused official
mismanagement of its birthright fund. Throughout the succeeding
fifteen or sixteen years, while cautiously assisted by the now
repentant State, it had been slowly, quietly gathering strength
and recognition; until, toward the close of President Bascom's
term, it had acquired such a position in the respect and affection
of the people that its expansion in resources and in student numbers
was bound thenceforth to keep pace with the rapid growth of wealth
and culture in the commonwealth. Dr. Chamberlin came
upon the scene when these forces had already given the University
considerable momentum, and with much energy and discretion he
directed the forwarding of the good work.

In the previous March, Congress had passed "An
act to establish agricultural experiment stations in connection with the colleges
established in the several States, under the provisions of an
act approved July 2, 1862."4 This
grant, popularly known as the Hatch Act carried with it
an appropriation of $15,000 per annum to each station, which was
to publish a bulletin at least once in three months, and annual
reports, the same to be transmitted free through the mails. One-fifth
of the first year's appropriation might be expended in buildings,
and thereafter but five per cent. The Wisconsin
legislature of 1887 promptly adopted a joint resolution
designating the regents of the University to receive for this
State the moneys and benefits accruing under the act; and at once
the Agricultural Experiment Station took a long step forward,
soon becoming one of the foremost in the Union.5South Hall was extensively overhauled and refitted,
and set apart for the offices, laboratories, and lecture-rooms of the
station, in connection with the College of agriculture.6Another helpful State act of 18877
was an appropriation, of $500 per year, to illustrate the publications
of the station. In the following year (1888), a chair of agricultural
physics was established, said to be the first of its kind in the
world, and to it was elected Prof. F. H. King,
the present incumbent.

The legislature of 1887 also voted $3,000 per year8 to enable the regents to "employ and
maintain a director of the Washburn Observatory." After the departure
of Professor Holden, in 1885, the observatory
had suffered a decline from lack of funds, and for a time was made an appendage
of the chair of physics, observations being made by advanced students of
the University, and by volunteers from the U. S. Naval observatory at
Washington; but this timely State aid enabled it to employ (in August),
as associate director, Prof. George C. Comstock,
later made director, and once more to assume a prominent position
among the observatories of the country.

Summer school opened.

In 1887, there was first established the teachers' institute lectureship,
the incumbent being Prof. J. W. Stearns,
who during the year gave a series of forty-two lectures in as
many localities throughout the State. The same
year, aided by an annual legislative grant of $1,000,9
there was opened for teachers, at the University, a "summer-school
of science, literature; language and pedagogy," offering twenty
courses in psychology, pedagogy, physiology, zoology, chemistry,
botany, geography, literature, and physics. At the first session
but forty teachers were present, there being three times this
number the following year, as the advantages of the school became
better known.

President's house.

It will be remembered that when, in 1866,
Dane county purchased for the University the experimental farm,--to
enable the institution to take advantage of the Morrill Agricultural
College Act of 1862,--there was upon the new grounds a brick dwelling known
as the "Read house."10
This was thereafter occupied by the president until March, 1880,
when the regents purchased for that purpose the Nelson
Dewey house, on State street. In July, 1887, an exchange was made
for the Charles E. Bross house, corner of
Langdon and Park streets, which is more advantageously
situated; this will doubtless be permanently-continued as the
presidential residence.

Establishment
of fellowships.

On the twenty-second of January, 1888, Rev.
Joseph H. Crooker, the Unitarian minister
at Madison delivered a sermon of originality,
on "What our University needs."11
His thesis was the need of research fellowships at the University.
He urged that cultivated and public-spirited men of wealth in
the State contribute toward a fund of $100,000, to produce, at
the then prevailing rate of interest, an annual income of $6,000,
from which to establish ten University graduate fellowships yielding
$600 each. He said:

This group of students, engaged in extended researches and brought
daily into contact with undergraduates, would add a new element
to the University, a tonic atmosphere of superior culture which
would be felt through every department. It is one of the common-places
of educational thought that culture is absorbed rather than learned;
that truest education comes from association with master minds
rather than from the text books, valuable as they are in their
place. The presence of these superior men consecrated to the service
of truth, and the presentation of the higher standard of intellectual
excellence, would open the eyes of many lower classmen to possibilities
of which they had never dreamed, and would create in the breasts
of some a devotion to higher ideals which never otherwise would
be felt.

This address, widely published, awakened general interest and
approval among University men. The fund of $100,000, however,
was not forthcoming; but the regents themselves had lately awakened
to the importance of advancing the cause of graduate study, and
thought the time ripe to establish eight University fellowships,
each yielding $400 per year. Mr. Crooker's
plea was for non-teaching fellowships; but the regents deemed
it advisable, in view of the fact that public money was being
used, to oblige each fellow to do assigned work "equivalent to
one hour of teaching daily, or the supervision of laboratory work
for two hours daily." There was still another fellowship, of similar
grade and requirements, founded at the same time for the period
of two years, by Regent John Johnston, of
Milwaukee, "in the appointment of
candidates to which preference is given to residents of Milwaukee county,
and to those exhibiting ability or promise in the department of
mechanic arts." The number of University fellowships was later
increased by the regents to ten, "of which two are specifically
devoted to Latin and Greek."

President's report, 1888.

We learn from the report of President Chamberlin
for 1888, that several other changes and new features were inaugurated
within the year. The German seminary method was introduced into
several departments; "several years will be requisite for any
adequate development of the system, but good results are already
being realized." The Hebrew course was developed, and Sanskrit,
Spanish, and Italian were first taught. There were now two special
courses for normal school graduates, to "meet a real educational
want." At the request of the State Medical Society, "a course
in science, with collateral branches, was arranged especially
for those contemplating the study of medicine and surgery;" twenty-seven
students entered in this course immediately after it was offered.
A civic-historical course, antecedent to the study of law and
journalism, was likewise offered. The chair of experimental and
comparative psychology was established; while two or three of
the foremost colleges of this country had inaugurated work in
this "new and important line of research," the president states
that "The College of France is however, I believe, the only other
institution in which a chair of this specific title has been definitely
established." For the first time, the College of Law was provided
with a dean (Gen. Edwin E. Bryant) who devoted
all of his time to this department--a change justified
by the increase both in the number of law students, and the tuition
fees paid by them. Especially marked, the president says, has
been the greater prominence given to the graduate courses, and
the departments of original investigation. We have already seen
that the Agricultural Experiment Station and Washburn Observatory
had each taken a forward stride in this inspiring year. Extra-collegiate
education also received, through the fellowships and otherwise,
still further impetus; and this important announcement is made:

By virtue of the increased facilities, the enlarged instructional
force, and particularly the opportunities afforded by the fellowship
system, the University feels itself prepared to offer the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy. This will be conferred upon successful
candidates after three years of prescribed study, two of which
must be pursued at the University. The degree will not, however,
be conferred simply on the ground of the completion of prescribed
study, but special high attainments are requisite, particularly
the power of original thought and independent investigation.

New Science buildings.

It was in 1888, also, that the new Science Hall, the Chemical
Building and the Machine Shops were opened--an event of marked
importance in the history of the University. The President says:

The new science buildings have been completed and now afford
accommodations unsurpassed in most respects, quite unequaled in some
particulars. Science Hall is pronounced by competent judges the best building
of its kind in this country. Large invoices of physical, engineering
and other apparatus, very carefully selected from the most approved
manufactories, have been received. Typical collections representative
of mineralogy, petrography, geology, zoology, and botany have
been purchased. While not commanding in their magnitude, they
are superior in quality and in their systematic character and
serviceability. Judicious selections of laboratory manuals and
treatises essential for reference have been purchased for the
laboratories.

The regents, in their report for the same year, urged upon the
legislature a broader and more permanent establishment of the
department of mechanic arts. "Good faith to the federal government
as well as to the mechanical and manufacturing interests of the
state, requires that this department should be reorganized with
a view to larger results." The legislature of 1889 met this appeal
generously. An act was passed12 providing that one per cent of the
funds derived by the State from license tax on transportation,
telephone, and electrical companies should be set aside to provide
"for needed additional facilities, for instruction in the
department of mechanic arts of the state university, and for
the establishment of courses of instruction in railway and
electrical engineering therein." The receipts from this
source, in the first year, amounted to $14,957.27; in 1897-98,
to $12,787.

Ladies' Hall
steam-heated.

Another act of 188913
appropriated $5,000 for the steam heating of Ladies' Hall, and
$1,500 per annum for employing a competent preceptress for the
same. "Said building," the act declared, "shall hereafter be known
as Ladies' Hall, and shall be used hereafter for and by the female
students attending said university, and not otherwise."

The president a regent.

At the same session the president was made14 an ex officio member of the board of regents,
"and a member of all its standing committees, but he shall have the right
to vote only in case of a tie." In the early days
of the University, the chancellor was ex officio president of the board;
but the reorganization act of 1866, wherein the head of the faculty is styled
president, deprived that officer of the right to sit with the regents; it was
not restored until thirty-three years later--even then with the limitations
named.15

Reorganization, 1889.

By the Revised statutes of 1878,16 the organization of the University was thus
outlined: "1. The college or department of arts. 2. The college or department
of letters. 3. Such professional or other colleges or departments
as now are, or may, from time to time, be added thereto or connected
therewith." In order to give greater dignity
to the colleges of law, agriculture, and mechanics and
engineering, the list was revised in 1889,17
so as to read as it does to-day:
"1. The college of letters and science. 2. The college of mechanics
and engineering. 3. The college of agriculture. 4. The college of law.
5. Such other colleges, schools or departments as now are or may from
time to time be added thereto or connected therewith." The scope
of the several colleges is thus defined:

The college of letters and science shall embrace liberal courses
of instruction in language, literature, philosophy and science,
and may embrace such other branches as the regents of the university
shall prescribe. The college of mechanics and engineering shall
embrace practical and theoretical instruction in the various branches
of mechanical and engineering science and art, and may embrace
such additional branches as the regents may determine. The college
of agriculture shall embrace instruction and experimentation in
the science of agriculture and in those sciences which are tributary
thereto, and may embrace such additional branches as the board
of regents shall determine. The college of law shall consist of
courses of instruction in the principles and practices of law,
and may include such other branches as the regents may determine.

Supplementary Morrill
Act.

The passage by Congress, in 1890, of the
supplementary Morrill Act18 "for
the more complete endowment and maintenance of colleges
for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts," that had
been established under the original Morrill Act of 1862, was a
boon for the University's College of Agriculture. This law carried
with it an additional appropriation of $15,000 per year, with
an annual increase of $1,000 until it should reach $25,000. The
money is directed "to be applied only to instruction in agriculture,
the mechanic arts, the English language and the various branches
of mathematical, physical, natural and economic science, with
special reference to their applications in the industries of life,
and to the facilities for such instruction."

This enabled the regents at once to establish an additional course
in agriculture, between the long and short courses. The short
course was extended so as to cover two winter terms, and greatly
strengthened and improved. There was also introduced a dairy course,
which soon became an attractive and valuable feature of the college.
In the College of Mechanics and Engineering, courses in electric
and railway engineering were offered, and in many ways the work
of this department was developed.

Regents' report, 1890.

The biennial report of the regents, made September 30, 1890, alludes
to the satisfactory degree of progress in the University. More
than 800 young men and women are now receiving instruction
in the several departments, the standard of admission is being
raised each year, and the facilities for good work
are constantly increasing. But the resources of the institution
are being heavily taxed. In the early days, "when only languages,
literature, mathematics, and natural history were taught in the
University, the apparatus and appliances for giving instruction
were comparatively inexpensive. * * * The demands made upon the
University are very different now. The application of machinery
to almost every human industry, has created a demand for young
men educated in many branches of engineering; while new, or improved,
methods of agriculture and live-stock growing require large expenditures
to enable the University to meet the advancing demands of the
state." The College of Agriculture, they report, "was one of the
first in the United States to begin scientific and systematic
work in the interest and for the advancement of Agriculture. It
is not exaggeration to state that it is better known to-day, among
the best agriculturalists and live-stock growers of Great Britain
and Scotland, than any similar institution in America." The engineers
graduated by the University are also "fast coming to the front
in the management of railways and other great industries."

Presidents' report, 1890.

The president's report, bearing the same date, reviews the progress
of the institution in greater detail. The graduate courses are
meeting with gratifying success, the number of graduate students
having risen from four in 1887-88, to twenty-one in the autumn
of 1890. The seminar system is gradually being developed,
although lacking room and means. The farmers' institutes "have
been sustained, and continue to exercise a powerfully stimulating
influence upon the development of higher agriculture and broader
intelligence." In the College of Agriculture, remarkable results
are being attained, chief among them "the development of a simple,
cheap and reliable method of testing milk, by Dr.
Babcock." North Hall "has been
improved and the upper stories fitted up for the pharmacy department,
which now has ample and commodious quarters," and the lower stories
for the German and Scandinavian departments. Buildings have been
repaired, and the general condition of University property improved.
"Special investigations in biological, physical, pharmaceutical,
historical and other lines have been conducted by the several professors,
but the heavy burden of instruction imposed upon the general faculty
leaves little time or strength for original inquiry."

Six years' tax-levy.

The only important legislative act of 1891,19 affecting the University, was the
appropriation of an annual levy of one-tenth of a mill on each dollar
of the assessed valuation of the State, for the term of six years. This
was in addition to the tax of 1883. The new levy (aggregating for the
six years about $377,000) was "for the construction, equipment and
maintenance of an armory and drill room for the military department of
the university, a building for the college of law, a building for
the practical instruction in dairying, and such modifications
of existing buildings as the growth of the university may require."
The residue was to "meet the permanent necessities arising from
the growth of the university."20

Hiram
Smith Hall built.

The dairy building was styled Hiram Smith Hall, in honor of regent
Smith, one of the foremost dairymen of the
State. It was pushed rapidly to completion, and opened in January, 1892,
with a hundred students in attendance; the regents declared that "for
complete adaptation to the definite purposes of dairy teaching, this
building is considered without all equal in America or Europe."
The same winter, John L. Mitchell, of
Milwaukee, "with a generosity characteristic
of the giver, donated twenty
scholarships of $100 each, covering two years' instruction, to
be placed each year to needy [agricultural] students."

The building for the College of Law was also commenced in 1891,
but not completed before the spring of 1893. The Gymnasium and
Armory, contracted for in 1892, was not opened for use until September,
1894. The University Boat House, in the rear of the Gymnasium,
on University ground, was built in the summer and autumn of 1892,
by the University Boat House Association, without expense to the
University, at a cost of $4,000. The Rowing Tank, adjoining the
Boat House, is for the winter practice of the crews, and was completed
in February, 1897, by the University authorities.

In the autumn of 1891, the University inaugurated a system of
University extension "of the English type," thus being one of
the earliest of American universities to carry on this work. Ten
courses of six lectures each were offered, and fifty courses were
given during the first winter in various portions of the State.
This department, conducted independently for several years, under
charge of a secretary, was in 1891 made an adjunct of the School
of Education.

Another important addition to the departments of University work
was also made within the academic year 1891-92, by the organization
of the School of Economics, Political Science, and History, under
the directorship of Dr. Richard T. Ely,
of Johns Hopkins University, an economist of international distinction.
The school which was formally opened on September 12, 1892--includes
the civic-historical course, and those graduate courses in the
fields named which lead to higher degrees. It has developed into
one of the most important and widely-known activities of the University,
attracting graduate students from all parts of this country and
many foreign lands.

Dr. Chamberlin resigns.

At the close of the college year (June, 1892) President Chamberlin
tendered his resignation, having been called to the deanship of the department
of geology in the University of Chicago. "For six years under his
administration," said the regents in announcing his departure,
"the University had flourished and the administration thereof was
conducted in a manner commendatory to President Chamberlin
and highly appreciated and endorsed by the Board of Regents and the people of
the state." Although eminently successful as an executive, and in that
position winning the esteem and confidence of regents, faculty, and people,
it was well known that Dr. Chamberlin had come
to chafe somewhat under the duties and restraints of the presidency. When the call
from Chicago came, with the promise of a return to his
old field of scientific research, under the most favorable conditions,
he followed his professional inclinations and accepted.

The board unanimously chose as his successor
Dr. Charles Kendall Adams,21 who had recently retired from
the presidency of Cornell. The regents state in their report that Dr.
Adams's "experience as a professor at
Ann Arbor and President of Cornell University, and well known reputation
as a scholar, historian and educator brings assurance, that the
administration of the University will be conducted with that energy
and ability, as has been done heretofore."

His final report.

The final report of President Chamberlin covered
the two years ending with Commencement, 1892. He showed
that the number of students had now grown to be 1,032, as against
the 637 who had attended at the beginning of his administration
six years before--an increase of about sixty-five per cent. "The
total number of professors, lecturers, investigators, instructors
and tutors (fellows) is 77," and the University "offers 251 subordinate
courses of study, designated subcourses." The requirements for
admission had been increased, to go into effect at the beginning
of the academic year 1892-93, and no corresponding diminution
in attendance was expected. There has been adopted, for introduction
at the same time, the group system "for the purpose of permitting
greater concentration, continuity, and thoroughness in the leading
lines of study and at the same time of affording wider familiarity
of the broad field of knowledge. * * * The general purpose of
this system is to introduce university methods, in the modern
sense of the term, more largely in the undergraduate college courses,
and so prepare the way for the better development of graduate
work." The president says that "Perhaps no end has been sought
more earnestly during the present administration * * * than the
development of the graduate department * * * upon a more extended
and effective plan"--a notable feature of that plan being the
establishment of the ably-officered Graduate School of Economics,
Political Science, and History. The engineering courses have been
recast and very greatly improved. The dairy school has been developed
"upon a systematic and scientific basis greatly in advance of
anything heretofore attained in this country, if indeed this latter
limitation is necessary." The summer school is prospering, and
"meets an important and permanent need." University extension
has been "auspiciously inaugurated;" the president further speaks
of the "unexpected success of the movement." In every college
and department there has been notable progress.

Thus when Dr. Chamberlin left the University
it was greatly strengthened and broadened
at all points, as the result of his six years of devotion to its
service, in which he had been aided by the cordial cooperation
of the regents, his colleagues, and the legislature.

1 Thomas
Chrowder Chamberlin was born in Shelbyville, Ill.,
in 1843; but in his third year his family removed to Wisconsin.
He graduated from Beloit in 1866; was for two years principal
of the Delavan high school; then spent a year
in special study at Michigan University; and for four years was professor
of natural sciences in the Whitewater normal
school. Thence he went to Beloit, as professor of geology;
it was while at Beloit that he was (1876) appointed State geologist.
He won much professional distinction in that position, closing
his term by editing the Geology of Wisconsin (1877-83), in four
large volumes and an atlas. Upon the completion
of this work, he became one of the principal members of the U.
S. Geological Survey. Elected to the presidency of Wisconsin University
in 1886, he assumed his duties in the autumn of 1887, resigning
in 1892 to become dean of geology in the University of Chicago,
which position he now holds.

2 In the four
academic classes, 311; specials, 146; agriculture,
25; pharmacy, 38; law, 113; resident graduates, 4. This was a
sudden growth of about 22 per cent, for the attendance the previous
year was but 539.

"In the same spirit [that of the Ordinance of 1787] was what is
known as the Hatch act of 1887. The agricultural interests of
the country had become aware that at Rothamsted, in England, and
in many places on the European continent, agricultural experiment
stations had been established for the investigation of the laws
and principles that govern the successful and profitable tillage
of the soil. Our government was prompt to imitate their example,
and more than forty agricultural stations have been founded and
equipped as the beneficent result of this generous federal act."--Inaugural
address of President Adams, Addresses at
the Inauguration (Madison, 1893), p. 57.

6 This action
ended the use of either of the old halls for dormitory
purposes. At the meeting of the executive committee of the board
of regents, held on the evening of September 1, 1884, this order
was entered on the minutes: "On recommendation of President
Bascom, students were allowed to rent
rooms in the South Dormitory when North Dormitory is full, at the
discretion of the President." Old Science Hall was burned on
the evening of December 1 following. The next day (Dec. 2), the
executive committee met and "It was agreed that plans should
be made immediately for converting the North Dormitory into
Laboratories and Lecture Rooms for the temporary use of scientific
professors, and that the work should be pushed as rapidly as
possible to completion." Since that time, North Hall has
never been occupied as a dormitory for students. Our text above
shows the passing, also, of South Hall from dormitory
uses. Ladies' Hall has, since then, been the only dormitory upon
the campus.

20 In his
biennial report rendered Sept. 30, 1894, President Adams
stated that "The Dairy Building, Law Building, Armory, and Heating
Plant, besides other repairs regarded as absolutely necessary,
have cost about $325,596, or within about $52,000 of what is estimated
to be the entire avails of the law of 1891."